iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces has released the first report on the causes of a recent helicopter crash that resulted in the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage, IANS reported.
A senior investigation committee composed of experts, specialists, and technicians arrived at the scene at the start of the week, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the report by the General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces as saying on Friday, May 24.
The helicopter had remained on its predetermined course and had not deviated from the flight route, according to the report.
Nearly one minute and a half before the incident, the pilot of the crashed helicopter had contacted the other two helicopters of the President’s convoy, the report said.
No trace of bullets or similar items has been detected on the wreckage of the crashed helicopter, it added as quoted by Xinhua.
After crashing into the mountain, the helicopter had caught fire, it said.
“Complications of the region, fog, and low temperature” had caused the search and rescue operations to continue until nightfall and then throughout the night, the report said, adding, “At 5 a.m. local time on Monday, with the assistance of drones, the exact location of the incident was identified.”
Early reports of the crash in Iran suggest that the helicopter was flying in a “foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest,” according to The Associated Press.
Raisi and his entourage were en route to East Azerbaijan province when the helicopter carrying them crashed. Also on board the helicopter were Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader to East Azerbaijan.
Raisi was laid to rest on Thursday in the holy shrine of Imam Reza in his hometown, the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Raisi has been buried in his home city of Mashhad, four days after he was killed in a helicopter crash. The 63-year-old hard-line cleric was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Imam Reza, a revered figure in Shia Islam. TV pictures showed large crowds gathered in one of the north-eastern city’s main streets ahead of the ceremony, the BBC reported.
